Minimum

# Minimum: Intel Core i5-12600KF + AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX — Benchmark Analysis

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers a performance profile that is heavily dependent on graphics settings in Minimum, a Third-Person Shooter released in 2014. The measured FPS data reveals a system capable of very high frame rates at 1080p but with notable scaling challenges as resolution and quality presets increase. Across all tested configurations, this combo ranks 549th out of 3712 tested combinations, placing it in the top 15% of all systems evaluated for this game. The data suggests a system where the GPU is the primary driver of performance differences, while the CPU's substantial multi-threaded capabilities provide a robust foundation that rarely becomes the limiting factor at the tested settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which preset delivers the best experience. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves an average of 249 FPS with minimum and maximum values of 211 and 286 FPS respectively. This represents a sweet spot: it offers 40 FPS more than the High preset's 209 average, while the Low preset hits 325 FPS — a difference of 76 FPS that most players would perceive as diminishing returns given the visual quality loss. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 159 FPS average, which is still smooth but represents a 36% reduction from Medium.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset again emerges as the recommended choice. It delivers 160 FPS average with a minimum of 136 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the 144Hz refresh rate common at this resolution. The High preset at 135 FPS is viable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes, while Low at 209 FPS sacrifices significant visual fidelity for frame rates that exceed what most 1440p displays can show. Ultra at 103 FPS is playable but begins to approach the threshold where competitive players might notice input latency.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. Medium produces 86 FPS average with a minimum of 73 FPS and maximum of 99 FPS — the only 4K preset with a recorded minimum FPS value in the data. High drops to 72 FPS, Ultra to 55 FPS, while Low reaches 113 FPS. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the only option that maintains an average above 60 FPS while providing a minimum above 70 FPS, making it the clear recommendation. The Low preset at 113 FPS is attractive for competitive play but requires accepting substantial visual compromises at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 549 out of 3712 tested combinations places it in the 85.2nd percentile of all systems tested for Minimum. This is a strong position, but the data suggests the ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's capabilities rather than the CPU's contributions. The CPU itself ranks in the 79th percentile among all processors in general benchmark data, while the GPU sits in the 64th percentile among all graphics cards. The gap between these percentiles and the combo's game-specific rank indicates that Minimum is particularly responsive to the GPU's raw throughput.

The GPU's nearest rivals in general benchmarks include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB (0.4% higher average score), NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (1% lower), AMD FirePro D300 (1.2% lower), and NVIDIA TITAN Xp (1.2% higher). These deltas are remarkably small, suggesting the RX 7900 XTX's benchmark average of 19410 sits in a tightly packed performance cluster. However, the measured FPS in Minimum shows this GPU delivering 4K Medium performance at 86 FPS, which indicates that the game's engine leverages the GPU's 24 GB memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth effectively.

For the CPU, the nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-10900K (0.3% lower average score), AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (0.3% higher), AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (0.3% lower), and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (0.3% lower). The i5-12600KF's average benchmark score of 27799 is within 0.3% of all four rivals, highlighting how competitive the mid-range CPU market has become. In Minimum, this CPU's performance is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at any tested resolution, as evidenced by the FPS scaling patterns.

FAQ

Q: Why does the Medium preset at 4K produce a higher average FPS (86) than High (72) but with a recorded minimum FPS (73) that is nearly equal to High's average?

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 shows a minimum FPS of 73 and maximum of 99, indicating more consistent frame delivery. High and Ultra presets have no recorded minimum or maximum values in the data, suggesting their averages of 72 and 55 FPS may be subject to greater variance without the same frame time stability.

Q: Is this system capable of 144Hz gaming at 1440p?

A: Yes, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers 160 FPS average with a minimum of 136 FPS, which exceeds the 144Hz threshold for a majority of gameplay. The High preset at 135 FPS average would fall slightly short of a locked 144Hz experience.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-12600KF scores 23391 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 27575 in Passmark multithread. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, has an average benchmark score just 0.3% higher, while the Intel Core i9-10900K is 0.3% lower. This indicates the 10-core, 16-thread Alder Lake design is competitive with previous generation high-end options.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low delivers 325 FPS average while Ultra produces 159 FPS average — a difference of 166 FPS or 104% higher performance on Low. This represents the full range of performance scaling available across quality presets.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM capacity impact gameplay at 4K?

A: The RX 7900 XTX features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset maintains 86 FPS average, suggesting the memory subsystem is sufficient for this game's 4K requirements, though the 55 FPS Ultra result indicates other GPU limitations become prominent.

Q: How does the combo's game-specific rank compare to the individual component percentiles?

A: The combo ranks 549th of 3712 — approximately the 85th percentile. The CPU is in the 79th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 64th percentile among all GPUs. This suggests Minimum favors the GPU's architecture more than general benchmarks would predict.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS data shows a clear progression across settings. Low delivers 325 FPS average, Medium achieves 249 FPS with minimum 211 and maximum 286, High produces 209 FPS, and Ultra drops to 159 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 166 FPS, representing a 104% performance penalty for maximum quality. The Medium preset's recorded minimum of 211 FPS is higher than both High and Ultra averages, indicating that the extra headroom in Medium prevents frame drops below what other presets sustain as their average.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low reaches 209 FPS, Medium averages 160 FPS with minimum 136 and maximum 184, High produces 135 FPS, and Ultra drops to 103 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra narrows to 106 FPS (103% difference). Notably, the High preset at 135 FPS is only 25 FPS below Medium's average, while Ultra's 103 FPS represents a 36% drop from Medium. The Medium preset's minimum of 136 FPS exactly matches High's average, reinforcing that Medium provides more consistent frame delivery.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens considerably. Low produces 113 FPS, Medium averages 86 FPS with minimum 73 and maximum 99, High drops to 72 FPS, and Ultra falls to 55 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 58 FPS (105% difference), similar proportionally to lower resolutions. However, the absolute values show that Ultra at 4K barely maintains 55 FPS, which would be marginal for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset's minimum of 73 FPS is the only 4K measurement that stays above 60 FPS in the minimum case, making it the only viable 4K preset for consistent performance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the system's bottleneck characteristics. At Medium settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (249 FPS) to 2560x1440 (160 FPS) represents a 35.7% reduction, while the move from 1440p to 3840x2160 (86 FPS) represents a 46.3% further reduction. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 65.5%, which is substantial but not as severe as would be expected if the GPU were completely saturated.

At High settings, the scaling is steeper: 209 FPS at 1080p drops to 135 FPS at 1440p (35.4% reduction) and then to 72 FPS at 4K (46.7% reduction from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p to 4K at High settings is 65.6%, nearly identical to Medium. This consistency suggests that the resolution scaling pattern is primarily driven by pixel throughput requirements rather than settings-specific effects.

The Low settings show a different pattern: 325 FPS at 1080p, 209 FPS at 1440p (35.7% reduction), and 113 FPS at 4K (45.9% reduction from 1440p). The total reduction is 65.2%. The similarity across all settings — 65.2% to 65.6% total reduction from 1080p to 4K — indicates that the limiting factor scales consistently with resolution. This points to the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth (960.0 GB/s) being the primary constraint, as the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide sufficient headroom even at 4K where frame rates drop to 55-113 FPS.

The fact that Ultra settings show the same proportional scaling (159 to 103 to 55 FPS, with reductions of 35.2% and 46.6%) reinforces that resolution scaling is resolution-bound rather than settings-bound. The GPU's 192 ROPs and 479.6 GPixel/s pixel rate appear to be the determining factor for how FPS scales with resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF brings 10 cores and 16 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz. In Cinebench R23, it scores 23391 in multicore and 3302 in single-core tests. The Passmark multithread score of 27575 and single-thread score of 3925 indicate strong performance across both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads.

In Minimum, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the system achieves 325 FPS. This extremely high frame rate would require the CPU to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates at a rate exceeding 300 frames per second. The fact that the system maintains this performance suggests the CPU's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1016, Geekbench single-core of 2157) is sufficient for the game's engine.

The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L1/L2 caches provide the memory hierarchy needed for game logic. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 1995 (2 threads) to 7956 (16 threads), indicating good multi-threading efficiency. However, in Minimum, the frame rate differences between 1080p and 4K are consistent across all settings, suggesting the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution — if it were, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences at higher resolutions where GPU load increases.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 79 among all CPUs, combined with its nearest rivals being within 0.3% of its average score, indicates this processor sits at a performance plateau. For Minimum, the data implies that even a significantly more powerful CPU would not meaningfully improve FPS at 4K, where the GPU's 55-113 FPS range is the clear constraint.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the dominant component in this combo for Minimum. With 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 960.0 GB/s bandwidth, the GPU has ample memory resources. Its boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz, combined with 6144 shading units, 384 TMUs, and 192 ROPs, provide substantial raw compute power. The 61.39 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 959.2 GTexel/s texture rate are key specifications for this game's rendering demands.

The GPU's benchmark profile shows a Passmark G3D score of 31238 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6841. Its percentile ranking of 64 among all GPUs places it in the upper third of graphics cards, though its nearest rivals in general benchmarks are surprisingly close — the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is only 0.4% higher, and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp is 1.2% higher. This tight clustering in synthetic benchmarks contrasts sharply with the measured FPS in Minimum, where the RX 7900 XTX delivers 4K Medium at 86 FPS and 1080p Low at 325 FPS.

The GPU's role becomes clear when examining the settings scaling. At 4K, the drop from Low (113 FPS) to Ultra (55 FPS) represents a 51.3% performance penalty. This settings sensitivity indicates that the game's Ultra preset likely activates features that heavily tax the GPU's shading units and memory subsystem. The fact that the GPU maintains 113 FPS at 4K Low demonstrates that its raw pixel throughput is substantial, but the Ultra preset's demands exceed what the architecture can deliver at 4K.

The GPU's 355 W TDP and dual-slot design with 2x 8-pin power connectors indicate a high-power component. The 750 W suggested PSU requirement, combined with the CPU's 125 W TDP, means this combo requires a robust power delivery system. The memory configuration of 24 GB GDDR6 at 20 Gbps effective provides 960.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is critical for maintaining frame rates at 4K where texture data requirements are highest. The measured FPS data suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth is sufficient for Medium settings at 4K (86 FPS) but becomes a limiting factor at Ultra (55 FPS), where the 3840x2160 resolution combined with maximum quality settings likely exceeds the effective bandwidth utilization threshold.